Economic Development
During hours of ministry at a rural Tanzanian church, Don Rogers (founder of ELI) noticed a boy lying outside the small church. The boy had been there the whole day and had not moved. His bloated stomach proved he was severely malnourished. There were flies in his eyes. As people left, no one took the boy home. Don brought the host pastor, Constantine, to where the child was sleeping. “I’m really concerned for this child,” Don explained. “His stomach is swollen; he hasn’t had enough food to eat. Everybody’s left. Whoever brought him possibly has abandoned him...” Pastor Constantine leaned over the young boy and gently woke him. He picked the boy up and introduced Don to his son.
Don was compelled to do something to help Pastor Constantine—and countless others just like him—to be able to raise money to at least feed their families. Upon returning to the USA, Don’s church held a fundraiser where they raised $4,000 and received a matching gift of $4,000. Among other things, they helped this pastor buy a fishing boat and nets so he could catch fish in Lake Victoria and sell the fish to substitute his meager income. Pastor Constantine now has four boats and employs seven others!
Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” We have found that this is true even in the economic realm. Many of our friends in East and Central Africa are poor because they lack the necessary means to gain knowledge and ideas. Taking workable ideas and training people who do not otherwise have access to resources has made incredible differences in the lives of the poor and oppressed that God has laid on our hearts to help.
This is what inspired the start of Empowering Lives International and its training centers. When people come for training, we find out what skills and resources they already have, and we teach them how they can use these resources to take steps of progress.
The success of the training centers has expanded from Kenya and Tanzania to the Congo and Sudan. At ELI’s five training centers, more than 1,000 people received training in 2006.
Through programs offered to small-scale farmers, churches,graduates of the anti-alcohol rehab program as well as to men and women in our 9-month bio-intensive agricultural program, individual lives’ are being changed. In return, each of those individuals return home and affect their communities by sharing what they have learned at ELI. This way, they too, are empowering lives!